It has come time to upgrade from my trusty entry level Specialized road shoes.I know they're cheaper online but I want to try and buy shoes in Sydney so they fit.I'm particularly interested in Sidi, but any other recommendations and where to go for a good range and reasonable price?Budget around $300 or so. City, Inner West and East location.Cheers,Peter

Thanks guys this is great!Cell is not far from me so easy to check out.Who stocks Bont? Research suggests they might be hard to come by in a LBS.Anyone been to Wooly's Wheels in Paddington? Their site suggests a fair range of Sidi, including the Mega for wide feet at reasonable prices.I might give them a bell.Thanks again,Peter

I don't like to give negative reviews, but I was pissed at having driven to North Sydney to BB, for a waste of my time.

After having told the guy I was ready to drop $400+ on a pair of Sidis, he sat me down and I got my first pair to try. Took all of 30 seconds to see they didn't fit. Meanwhile, someone he knew walked in and he went for a chat - no prob, I will wait.

After the chat, he came back and gave me another pair to try. I was trying to explain what I wanted and for what use they'd be put. With him staring around the store, I was beginning to gather that there wasn't a whole lot of interest on his part.

Then after the third pair he left me to try (none of which corresponded to what I asked for - "just try them on for size"), he leaves me for a walk-in who wanted to know everything there was to know about frame pumps.

Twenty mins later (no exaggeration), the guy doesn't buy a pump and leaves, as he was not able to get one for "less than 10 bucks".

my friendly assistant sees me still patiently waiting, but decides to go to a far more interesting young group of three, who appear be his friends... Judging by their talk of what they were going to get up to that night.

At that point, I quietly take my things, still not managing to get his attention, I walked out - he didn't even notice - and there was a wasted trip and lesson learned never to set foot in there again.

I wanted to buy the damn shoes, had the cash and my old shoes with me, for comparison fit - and got stuff all for my trouble. I'm all for giving people a break and understanding they can all have "off days", however, i got the feeling that his heart just wasn't in it with me...

I don't want to buy them online, I want to try them on and don't mind paying a little more for "service".

I'm really pissed. I'm trying to find wide shoes, I really wanted to try out the Bont A3's, but the Australian distributor won't even respond to emails. I've managed to find some Shimano's in wide from the U.K., which I'll take a risk on, but it pisses me off that unless you are 'average', the retailers won't even try. Clothing and shoes are the things I really try and buy locally, because that's what will keep the LBS's alive... but customer service is definitely not high on the list of priorities for retailers or distributors in Australia.

twizzle wrote:I'm really pissed. I'm trying to find wide shoes, I really wanted to try out the Bont A3's, but the Australian distributor won't even respond to emails. I've managed to find some Shimano's in wide from the U.K., which I'll take a risk on, but it pisses me off that unless you are 'average', the retailers won't even try.

The irony of all this is that Australians on average have wider feet than Europeans. The ski boot distributors realized this years ago and imported the wider fitting designs.

In bike shoes, Sidi's are a very narrow fit. They make a wider "Mega" range but its rare to find these in stock in a B&M store.

I've spoken to GKA *Bont distro* a week or two ago, and they said that Renegade Cycles in Lane Cove and Cheeky Transport in Randwick were the ticket. They also suggested Clarence St Cyclery but a call to the store confirmed that they were getting out of them. Renegade said they had sizes 42 up? I think it's just about at a point where a trip to Kingsgrove to visit the Factory might be a better plan.

It's feeling like there is likely 1-2 shops in Sydney that could realistically sell what you want if it's a 300+ item.

Xplora wrote:I've spoken to GKA *Bont distro* a week or two ago, and they said that Renegade Cycles in Lane Cove and Cheeky Transport in Randwick were the ticket. They also suggested Clarence St Cyclery but a call to the store confirmed that they were getting out of them. Renegade said they had sizes 42 up? I think it's just about at a point where a trip to Kingsgrove to visit the Factory might be a better plan.

It's feeling like there is likely 1-2 shops in Sydney that could realistically sell what you want if it's a 300+ item.

Thanks for that, is a trip to the factory a realistic idea?Going to call, Cheeky Monkey in Randwick, Renegade and Bont.

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